I visited this office to see about mandibular advancement devices for sleep apnea. They advertise the services on the window. During my consultation, the dentist focused on only the most important information that patients interested in mandibular advancement devices should know: (1) a major source of sleep apnea for professionals is stress, (2) the dentist's daughter is an MD at a prestigious institution in Boston who is doing research on the mind-body connection; and (3) one of the office staff has taken a course in how to bill insurance for mandibular advancement devices.
This dentist was so sensitive to patient care as to repeat each of the above points enough times that even the most sleep-deprived apnea sufferer would not fail to remember them. The point about stress and sleep apnea was reviewed for sufficient length that even those with a rudimentary grasp of the English language would be hard pressed not to retain it. Needless to say, the patience of this dentist is unparalleled.
The dentist took extra special care that I wouldn't forget his daughter who is an MD at a hospital in Boston by accepting a FaceTime call from her halfway through my visit. What a mensch to include me in these special family moments.
Just in case I had dozed off and missed the entire conversation with the dentist, as I was about to leave, I was informed by the dentist that his office staff member had taken a course in how to bill insurance for sleep apnea devices. So thoughtful of him to remind me of this vital piece of information about insurance in case my sleep-deprived brain had forgotten it.
Speaking of insurance, now three months after that appointment, I'm in that all too familiar battle to obtain a pre authorization for treatment. Frustrating it is, but one can only imagine how much worse things would be had the office staff member not taken a course on how to submit insurance pre authorization claims for sleep apnea devices.
In addition, the persistence of the office staff is commendable. After my insurance told me that no request had been submitted, I called the dental office and was told that they had submitted the pre authorization request that very day just before I had called! A coincidence or a miracle, I don't know, but impressive either way. And what a coincidence again that they just submitted the pre-authorization request again and again just hours before I call -- each and every time. And how awful of my insurance company to pretend that no such requests have been submitted yet.
Finally, can you believe there's virtually no research on Google Scholar or PubMed linking stress to sleep apnea? Outrageous that such evidence is hidden from the public. I am so grateful for my great good fortune to have happened upon this dentist with a daughter whose an MD at a prestigious hospital in Boston, as I would otherwise never have come upon this revelation.
The 15 minute information-packed session came at the low price of $195. A small price to pay for medical opinions that one can't find anywhere in medical journals, family phone calls with prestigious doctor daughters in Boston and office assistants with specialized training in insurance billing who have miraculously just submitted your pre-authorization requests moments before you call them every time. read more
